‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Teaser & Comic-Con Poster: Missing Persons

Comic book adaptations that explore the superhero genre (and/or other genres) are commonplace on television nowadays. Network television shows like Gotham and The Flash pull in respectable numbers, but there’s one comic-based television juggernaut that no superhero show can touch: AMC’s The Walking Dead.

The series has continued to grow in populrity since it debuted in 2010, pulling in a record number of viewers during its latest mid-season finale. After five seasons of increasing popularity, it wasn’t surprising when a spinoff series was announced – Fear the Walking Dead, which aims to expand the Walking Dead brand by exploring events prior to its predecessor and showcasing the initial effects of the zombie outbreak in Los Angeles. AMC is betting big on the series too, having already ordered a second season before the series premieres.

AMC has released a new teaser (seen above) giving viewers brief glimpses of the world as the infection takes hold. Clocking in at only ten seconds, it is far shorter than the previous teasers and shows three unconnected clips rather than a single, cohesive scene. It features a lingering shot of a missing persons poster, followed by characters Madison (Kim Dickens) and Travis (Cliff Curtis) driving through a city looking distraught, but not particularly alarmed.

AMC also debuted a new poster (seen below), confirming the series’ August release date. The poster will be appearing around the San Diego Convention Center during the 2015 International Comic-Con, where Walking Dead stars and producers will host a joint panel for both shows.

In the footage shown so far, it looks as though Fear the Walking Dead will include minimal footage of zombie violence, instead focusing on the tension of the impending apocalypse. The marketing material has been focused heavily on the people populating this world, the surrounding threat all but unseen. Those humans include Madison and Travis, along with Madison’s kids Nick (Frank Dillane) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey).

A spinoff from The Walking Dead wasn’t something that was highly demand, so retreading story ground covered in The Walking Dead will quickly deplete the goodwill fans have from the previous series. From what we’ve seen so far, though, Robert Kirkman and the rest of the team behind this new TV show aren’t content to retell old stories. The tone of Fear the Walking Dead feels different, trading out the obvious zombie threats for a sense of mounting tension.

Kirkman had also teased a unique take on the early zombies in the series, further differentiating the two Walking Dead shows – and, potentially, offering something fans new and old have yet to see.